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After last issue’s journey into canine-based storytelling, this instalment of Hawkeye takes us back into the world of humans, but interestingly, once again, the focus here is not on Clint Barton. Nope, this issue is all about his brother, Barney Barton, the former Trickshot and Dark Avengers Hawkeye. Just like how this series ignores what Clint gets up to as an Avenger, this issue ignores whatever Barney was doing in Dark Avengers, and we discover that Barney was the hobo that Pizza-Dog saved last issue.

It’s definitely going to be fun seeing Fraction slowly reveal just what went down in #11, we get one answer here, but there’s a lot more to come. Barney runs afoul of the Tracksuit Draculas, and is on the receiving end of a couple of brutal beat-downs. In amongst all this is a series of flashbacks to Clint and Barney’s childhood. This is before they joined the Circus, back when they were living with their abusive father. These scenes were very well done, very touching really, and it was very interesting to see that Barney is the one who taught Clint not only how to aim, but how to punch.

This was another excellent issue of Hawkeye, I love how each issue complete unto itself, but also ties in to the greater story. I will say however that the greater story does seem to be spinning its wheels a little. Grills was killed like, 4 issues ago, and we’ve barely moved beyond that point. I get that this is a unique book and it’s cool how it’s different, but it is a bit slow. Hopefully the one-two punch of the Annual and #13 will get things going. Francesco Francavilla once again filled in on the art, and whilst I still don’t think his two issues of Hawkeye are his best work, they look a little rushed, he’s still a brilliant artist with such a cool style, even his less-good stuff is excellent.

With any other series I have to admit that I'd be a little annoyed at the slow pace of the overall plot that's currently happening in this series. Has it really been four issues showing events in almost the exact period of time? Yes it has, but it doesn't feel like it's been that long. That's a testament to just how good this series is.

Amoebas wrote:Probably Marvel's best book (Daredevil is starting to slide).

Only gripe is that the Barney recap on page one didn't explain why Barney isn't dead.

Barney came back a while ago in Jim McCann's Hawkeye: Blindspot mini-series. He was then a member of the second Dark Avengers team in both Bendis' Avengers run and their own series written by Jeff Parker.

Amoebas wrote:Probably Marvel's best book (Daredevil is starting to slide).

Only gripe is that the Barney recap on page one didn't explain why Barney isn't dead.

I agree Hawkguy is Marvel's best book (but there's no "probably" to it, it's no contest), but I couldn't disagree more about DD, I think it's as strong as ever, and an easy second-best Big 2 book being published right now.

chap22 wrote:I agree Hawkguy is Marvel's best book (but there's no "probably" to it, it's no contest), but I couldn't disagree more about DD, I think it's as strong as ever, and an easy second-best Big 2 book being published right now.

Stephen Day wrote:With any other series I have to admit that I'd be a little annoyed at the slow pace of the overall plot that's currently happening in this series. Has it really been four issues showing events in almost the exact period of time? Yes it has, but it doesn't feel like it's been that long. That's a testament to just how good this series is.

You're letting this issue off easy because #11 was so well-done (and is just a few weeks old). You said you wanted answers after #11, and this issue provided very little of them.

Much like Uncanny X-Men #144, I cannot fault the artist for my disappointment. Anderson and Francavilla both followed incredible issues with their own solid artwork.

ThirtyFiveMinutesAgo wrote:You're letting this issue off easy because #11 was so well-done (and is just a few weeks old). You said you wanted answers after #11, and this issue provided very little of them.

Much like Uncanny X-Men #144, I cannot fault the artist for my disappointment. Anderson and Francavilla both followed incredible issues with their own solid artwork.

I personally don't think I'm letting this issue off easy alone at all -- it was a really good read. Yes, I said after last issue that I wanted answers, and I still do at some point. That statement came before I read this issue though.

Stephen Day wrote:I personally don't think I'm letting this issue off easy alone at all -- it was a really good read. Yes, I said after last issue that I wanted answers, and I still do at some point. That statement came before I read this issue though.

You make me wonder if you care about Barney Barton more than Pizza Dog. Poor Pizza Dog.